One day on the road and we have met many route 66 buffs from the U.S, and abroad! Out of Needles we headed for Kingman and found the scenery much more enjoyable traveling at 55 instead of 75. A few miles before Kingman we spotted Area 66, a must-stop and see! Giving his mom a break, John who resides in Glendale, was running the place. Resembling a raised golf ball, the Dinesphere is a geodesic dome located in Yucca, AZ, on a re-alignment of Route 66. It was built in 1972 as a restaurant-nightclub, but today is not open to the public. The small store that John was running specializes in beef jerkey and out-of-this world souveniers of the close encounter kind. Alien doo-dads of all kinds abound. Check it out at info@area66.com.
A stop at the Powerhouse Route 66 Museum in Kingman was enjoyable and there we met a family from Germany who happened to share our last name. The daughter and her husband were riding a Harley while Dad and Mom followed in an SUV. They were headed to Chicago but making a detour to the Grand Canyon. We met up again across the street at MrD’s, a Route 66 Icon cafe and soda fountain.
While in Kingman we paid a visit to Jim Hinckley, author of several books including Ghost Towns of the West, and a book we just purchased while there: Route 66 Backroads: Your Guide to Scenic Side Trips and Aventures from the Mother Road. He gave us some tips and suggestions for the trip ahead.
A stop at the Hackaberry General Store had my husband snapping photos like crazy, especially in the men’s room which you have to see to believe (i did take a peek). And guess who we ran into there! The Hellers from Germany. Also, a Route 66 traveler from Africa.
Heading east our next stop was Seligman where we dropped into the curio and barber shop to see the famed Angel Delgadillo – the man who made the town famous by bringing its Route 66 ties to the general public. He was home resting when we got there, but his older brother, Joe, 90 years old, greeted us. We bought souveniers again and headed for Flagstaff for the night. The Flagstaff weather was mild, a respite from the 100 degree plus temperatures we had been experiencing. Our RV campsite is delightful and within walking distance is Black Barts where we plan to order a rib eye in the next half hour.
Black Barts – Flagstaff
When in Flagstaff, we normally stay at Little America, but this time pulled into the RV park across the street. We were pleased because our favorite Flagstaff Restaurant “Black Barts” is actually located right in the RV park. Not only is the food wonderful, but the waiters and waitresses sing opera. They hop onto the stage and sing solos, but occasionally they abandon their tables and perform a big number together such as “Oklahoma!” One waiter sang “Let him Live” from Les Miserables. His rendition was so touching it brought me to tears which fell on my very rare prime rib dinner!
Speaking of tears, a visit to this restaurant many years ago brought my husband to tears, much to the horror of our children. A group of Black students, probably junior high school students, were eating at the restaurant. They were not a very attractive looking group. To our surprise, they all went up on the stage and the leader announced they were from Mississippi and sold pickles for 2 years to earn enough money to visit the Grand Canyon. They then broke out in song with such sincerity and emotion that my husband was overtaken with emotion. The kids were so embarrased but it is a story they re-told for years.
Gallup, New Mexico
This Route 66 town has improved immensely since our visit about ten years ago. Route 66 signs adorn many of the buildings and probably one of the best Route 66 motels in existence is found here: The El Rancho. http://www.elranchohotel.com/about_hotel.cfm
Since we are determined to stay most nights in our trailer, we sadly passed the El Rancho and stayed at the Koa Kampground which offered the use of the pool at the hotel next door – and since it was 100 degrees out, that was a good thing.
At night we made a donation to the Native Americans at the Fire Rock Casino. It has been open for 17 months and not only raises money for the tribe, but is a great source of employment to Gallupians.
ELMORRO NATIONAL MONUMENT
Abandoning Route 66 (Highway 4), we drove south on 602 out of Gallup to El Morro National Monument. This rock is a Cuesta (a long formation with a gentle upward slope that drops off abruptly at one end). Travelers along this trade route depended on El Morro’s source of water, a pool of runoff and snowmelt. As they rested in the shadow of the bluff, they etched messages into the rock. The earliest were petroglyphs carved by the Anasazi, followed by pueblo indians from the 1200s. Signatures and messages by Spanish explorers may be seen, such as Don Diego de Vargas inscribed in 1692. Emigrants traveling by foot in the early 1800s signed their names, and later when a group of railway employees were surveying the area, they also signed. These inscriptions are protected for all time and are like a history book.
OUCH
Our first mishap of the trip! Negotiating through a picnic area, the ramada over a picnic table had a close encounter with our trailer, gouging out a fist-sized chunk near the roof. After a few choice words and trying to blame me because it was my insistence on a pit stop that brought us to the ramada, we tried to decide what to do. As the sky darkened and we could hear thunder, the possibility of rain and water damage hit us. So….arriving in Albuquerque we stopped at Camping World and left the trailer there for a patch up job. The good part is we are at a nice hotel near the Spanish Old Town Plaza of Albuquerque and enjoying what seems like a HUGE bathroom and HUGE bedroom after living in a 19 foot trailer for almost a week. We mosied around the Plaza where there was live music and dancing and dined on the outside patio of a Mexican Restaurant next to the ornate Church.
A FIRST
At the KOA Kampground in Grants, we ordered pizza to be delivered
right to our trailer.
CREEPY
The Spanish Plaza in Albuquerque is quaint and full of history, music and dancing. But where did we go? THE RATTLESNAKE MUSEUM. Even creepier than all the snakes was the huge black widow and greeted us.